Paronomasia in "Vox Clamantis."

Author/Editor
Ito, Masayoshi

Title
Paronomasia in "Vox Clamantis."

Published
Ito, Masayoshi. "Paronomasia in 'Vox Clamantis'." Bulletin of College of General Education, Tohoku University 6 (1967), pp. 21-35. [ISSN 0287-8844]. English version in Ito's John Gower, The Medieval Poet (Tokyo: Shinozaki Shorin, 1976), pp. 199-213.

Review
In Japanese. Out of the 297 examples of paronomasia found by Ito in the entire VC, 31 are included in the lines borrowed or imitated from such authoritative texts as Ovid's poetry, Peter de Riga's "Aurora," Nigel de Longchamps's "Speculum Stultorum," Gregory the Great's "Cura Pastoralis," and the Vulgate Bible; the rest are Gower's own inventions. Although there are cases in which paronomasia is used merely for the sake of rhetorical ornamentation, Ito finds many instances where this rhetorical device, through its witty juxtaposition of words that are similar in sound but opposite in meaning, becomes an effective means of expressing the conflicts and contradictions that beset English society in Gower's time. Ito thus argues that paronomasia is an important element of Gower's Latin style that he employs to enhance the impact of his social and moral satire in the VC. [Yoshiko Kobayashi; rev. MA]

Date
1967

Gower Subjects
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Style, Rhetoric, and Versification
Vox Clamantis